The cellar was cold and often had leaks that also seemed to drip right on Corrin's face. For food, they simply ate the dried food they had in their packs.
The first night, he left the cellar trapdoor open, but would not go down when he spoke to them.
"Why aren't you coming down?"
"Well, if somebody is watching and they see me going down there often enough, they'll get suspicious. So I won't go down there."
Kalem, much to Corrin's dismay, would not make them food out of fear that Imperial soldiers might check in and notice the heaps of food he was making for supposedly one person.
While it was annoying, Corrin understood where the fear came from. A drop interrupted Corrin's thoughts. He looked up and watched another drop hit his face. Miserable was an understatement for the conditions they were in. How it was so cold in the cellar was beyond Corrin.
He had even lost track of the days. Sure, Forrest had been keeping track, but Corrin didn't feel like interrupting any conversations. Forrest seemed to have talked very often with Lenn and Vesterii about the best routes through the castle.
"He told us that going through the library may be the best way."
"I could see it, but if we go through this way, we'll likely be able to get there faster."
"Well, faster doesn't necessarily mean better, Merri."
The three were deep in conversation. The person they had referenced was another spy living in the castle as a butler. Corrin was surprised by how many spies Vrebathia truly had. And, if they had spies in the Capital City, what if the Shem had spies in Oaksjean? What if they already knew the plan?
Corrin didn't enjoy thinking about that. Corrin wrapped himself in more of his sleeping roll. He didn't know if it was time to sleep or not, but he wanted to stop thinking about things.
Another drop fell from the ceiling, landing right between Corrin's eyes.
He closed his eyes. A blurry figure emerges. It's a familiar sight; it's not the first time he's seen this. He watches the queen as she walks closer to him. The scar on her cheek glowed a bright red. Her eyes are scarlet and her hair dark. Her pale skin edged closer to that of paper.
He remembered Tomu at that moment. He was also a Shem, but his skin wasn't nearly as pale as hers. His eyes were red, but not nearly as red as hers.
She stood there and began to walk forward. Her sword shimmered with blood. The figures on the ground were warped. The setting around them was blurry. All he saw was her. She smiled.
"Oh, where are you hiding?"
The people on the ground screamed, but Corrin couldn't understand them. It was like it was in another language.
"Come out, come out."
Corrin felt confused. The air around him began to thicken and tense. Then he awoke in a sweat. The light was out; it must have been night. He sat up, but felt a horrible feeling, like he was sick. His scar seared painfully. He held it and rubbed his cheek, hoping it would somehow soothe the pain.
"Was it only a dream?"
Corrin wondered if what he saw was real. It had to mean something. Corrin found the courage to close his eyes again. He fell asleep soundly and awoke in shivers early the next morning.
The cellar was cold, and the air seeped in from the trapdoor's cracks. Corrin wondered why it could be so cold. He climbs up the ladder and takes a peek through the trapdoor.
He opens it slightly and takes a look around. He sees the front door open, the ice-cold morning air coming through. He suddenly feels a hand go over his mouth.
"Don't scream, it's me, Forrest."
He brings Corrin down the trapdoor.
"You were in some kind of trance state, like Lenn was after he had the vision of the queen."
Corrin covered his mouth in awe.
"We're all going down, Corrin. Just come down with us for a moment."
Corrin wondered for a moment what he meant by 'down', before they went to the other trapdoor in the cellar that led to the underground system.
"Corrin, you're awake!"
Edwin gave Corrin a quick one-handed hug.
"Of course I am…"
Forrest lit a torch.
"You were asleep for twenty-four hours, Corrin. It was like you were in a coma or something."
"What? How? The vision I saw was only-"
Corrin stopped himself before realizing he had gone too far.
"I saw the queen, just as Lenn had. She asked where I was, like she was looking for me."
"You didn't answer, did you?"
"Of course not! I… couldn't. My mouth was full of blood."
Corrin hadn't even remembered that detail until now. His mouth had been pooling with blood.
He had a bad feeling about all of this. Lenn spoke up.
"Okay, well. Clearly, the queen must have some kind of Resonance, right?"
Vesterii held his chin.
"I wouldn't see it past her. She has been using the Anees Energy in the air for gods know how long. She must have acquired some kind of Resonance in all that time, right?"
Forrest nodded.
"I could see it."
He quickly shook his head and grabbed multiple pieces of parchment from his pack. He set it on the ground, only illuminated by the torch Kalem was holding.
"We should focus on the plan. Tonight is the night before May the first. That means Vrebathian soldiers have likely already arrived and are camping at the bottom of the mountain. This is what we're going to do."
The parchment on the ground is a map of the city. He moves a few away from the others; it's a map of the palace, where the queen would be.
"This is the palace. First, we'll all go through this underground secret entrance in the cellars. We'll sneak our way to this window here, and then climb from the outside up and into the royal chamber. From there, we'll climb to the rafters. And we'll jump down and kill the queen."
Forrest took a deep breath. Even he seemed nervous.
"After that, however, guards will likely have noticed us. We'll escape via this window here. Then, we'll rally with the spies at this building. Kalem, you'll go and make sure that they've rallied here."
Forrest held his shaking hand for a moment.
"Once we get there, we'll all go together alongside the spies, which should number about twenty, and fight our way to open the gate. From there, we'll let the Vrebathian Army do the rest. Kalem, if we're not there, continue with the plan. Don't wait too long for us."
Forrest looks up at everyone.
"Is that clear?"
They all nod. Corrin could feel his chest beating. It was getting closer. In the next few hours, the Queen would be dead, and Corrin would have completed the task he had trained so hard to accomplish.
As they walk through the tunnels, Corrin seems to wonder what will happen after the Queen dies. Would Corrin just be subject to a life in some random house? Would he join the Vrebathian Army? What would really happen?
Kalem splits off down a different tunnel. He waves and smiles, going off to rally the spies to one location. His optimism is still foreign to Corrin.
They continue to walk through the maze-like tunnels until they reach a ladder heading upwards.
"This is it. Above us is the lowest floor of the castle. Once we enter, there will be no turning back. This is it, Hidden Vanguard. Brace yourselves."
As Forrest leads the way, Corrin couldn't help but have bad feelings. He was still coping with the fact that he had been in a coma for twenty-four hours. Though this wasn't the first time that dreams seemed to fly by.
When Corrin had first met the mysterious man in his dreams, he had asked Corrin to sit down and concentrate. He saw a vision of the Queen, just as he had now. Though time seemed to go by in a flash, as though it were being manipulated by something.
He had only seen the vision for a few seconds, but nearly thirty minutes had passed in those few seconds. Corrin's scar was also searing by the end of it, just as it had now.
There was more to this, and Corrin would have rather known before going to face the Queen.
As they walked up the ladder, the cellar came into view. Huge pillars held the ceiling up around the room to nearly twenty feet. Corrin had never seen such a large cellar. Barrels and kegs full of alcohol were stacked on each other in the middle of the room and on the walls up high.
On the other side of the room were brick stairs leading upward. The sounds of steps echoed down them. They all ran towards the barrels and crouched behind them, hiding themselves from sight.
They had already run into somebody, and they hadn't been in the castle for a few minutes. Corrin readied himself for the most tense moment of his life.